Picking a New Phone Plan? Here Are Your Best Bets

Shopping for a phone plan can be as daunting as picking a health insurance package. The rates and options constantly change, and it feels impossible to make simple comparisons between carriers.

Case in point: The best phone plans we recommended a year and a half ago are now obsolete because the wireless carriers have completely changed their offerings.

The biggest change involves the so-called unlimited data plan. About five years ago, all the major carriers killed all-you-can-eat data plans that let you browse the web, download music and post photos as much as you want in favor of plans that charge you by the gigabyte.

But now T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and, most recently, Verizon Wireless have resurrected unlimited data. As enticing as that may sound, unlimited is ideal for a small set of people. For everyone else, you may be paying for more than you need, and the plans come with major limitations on how you can use them.

“The unlimited plan will confuse consumers even more because it’s not really unlimited,” said Toni Toikka, the chief executive of Alekstra, a research firm that analyzes wireless bills. “They think ‘O.K., it’s a great deal,’ but actually it’s not so.”

Still, it is a good time to consider a new phone plan. Phone manufacturers like Samsung Electronics, LG and Sony are expected to show new smartphones next week at Mobile World Congress, the annual trade show centered on mobile devices.

To help narrow your options, The Wirecutter, the product recommendation site owned by The New York Times, named Verizon Wireless the best carrier, largely because it has the broadest network coverage and top-rated service quality, along with generous data packages that are easy to understand, said Rob Pegoraro, who writes about phone carriers for The Wirecutter.

The Wirecutter’s pick comes down to a simple fact: A smartphone is no good if it lacks a connection, so good coverage should be the top consideration when you select a plan.

But choosing the best plan for you is not as simple as heading straight for a Verizon plan, Mr. Toikka said. Prices can fluctuate, and in some cases, AT&T, the second-largest carrier, offers a better deal on a network that is generally as good as Verizon’s. Here are recommendations we made with the help of Mr. Toikka for the best phone plans for individuals, couples, families and travelers.

Best Plan for the Single User

AT&T’S THREE-GIGABYTE PLAN

PRICE $60 a month

WHY IT WINS On average, smartphone owners with tiered data plans used 2.9 gigabytes of data per month last year, according to Cisco. At $60 a month, AT&T’s three-gigabyte offering is large enough to suit the average smartphone owner’s needs. Verizon offers a two-gigabyte bucket for $60 a month, which may be too small; for $75 a month it offers a four-gigabyte plan, which is a bit more than you probably need.

Best Plan for the Single Power User

VERIZON’S UNLIMITED DATA PLAN

PRICE $80 a month

WHY IT WINS If you use at least 10 gigabytes a month, consider yourself a power user. For a single phone line, Verizon’s $85-a-month unlimited data offering beats AT&T’s $100-a-month unlimited plan. Verizon customers can also get a discount by enrolling in automatic payments, reducing the price of the unlimited plan to $80 a month.

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Only Verizon’s unlimited data plan includes the ability to tether, or share a smartphone’s cellular data with another device like a computer. Both plans share a limitation: After 22 gigabytes of use in a month, data speeds may be slowed.

Best Plan for the Average Couple

AT&T’S SHARED SIX-GIGABYTE PLAN

PRICE $100 a month

WHY IT WINS AT&T’s six-gigabyte shared data plan should have most couples covered since the average data consumption per person is three gigabytes a month. Priced at $100 a month, the plan is also more generous than Verizon’s four-gigabyte plan at $100 a month.

Best Plan for the Power Couple

VERIZON’S OR AT&T’S UNLIMITED DATA PLAN

PRICE $140 a month

WHY THEY TIE A couple that uses at least 20 gigabytes a month would benefit from either AT&T’s or Verizon’s unlimited plan, and both cost the same each month. Which to choose? Mr. Toikka recommends checking coverage maps for AT&T and Verizon to see which carrier is better in your hometown.

Best Plan for a Family of Four

VERIZON’S UNLIMITED DATA PLAN

PRICE $180 a month

WHY IT WINS On average, a family of four will probably consume about 12 gigabytes a month. Verizon’s largest tiered data plan includes eight gigabytes a month, which can easily be surpassed. Verizon’s unlimited data plan costs $200 a month for four people, which can be reduced to $180 a month for families that enroll in automatic payments. Mr. Toikka warned that automatic payments might lead parents to overlook unexpected charges on their phone bills, so just make sure to closely monitor your bills.

Best Option for an Occasional Traveler

VERIZON’S AND AT&T’S TRAVEL PLANS OR A FOREIGN SIM CARD

PRICE $10 a day

WHY THEY WIN Verizon and AT&T customers can use a smartphone abroad in over 100 countries for an extra $10 a day on top of the rates for their normal phone plan. The main difference is that Verizon’s smartphones come unlocked, offering the flexibility of inserting a foreign SIM card and potentially paying even lower rates.

By contrast, AT&T’s smartphones come locked by default, meaning you will have to go through some hassle to unlock a device to use a foreign SIM card.

Kelly Crummey, a Verizon spokeswoman, said, “Verizon’s coverage is second to none, and we have very competitively priced plans loaded with features, providing customers with incredible value.”

AT&T said it “provides value to customers that our competitors can’t match.”

Switching to a new phone plan can be tedious and frustrating, and chances are you are happy with the one you have. But Mr. Pegoraro of The Wirecutter warned that sticking with a dated plan could make you miss out on options that offer better value or neat features like tethering.

“Don’t assume that the plan you’ve been on is the one you should stay on,” he said.

Correction: February 22, 2017
An earlier version of this column misstated which data plans had a feature. Only the Verizon unlimited plan has the ability to tether; it is not the case that both AT&T and Verizon have that distinction.

A version of this article appears in print on February 23, 2017, on Page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Picking a New Phone Plan? Here Are Your Best Bets. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe